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Complete Ryder Center coverage
SPORTS page 3
Dante Fascell subject of new compilation
ACCENT page 5
Volume 78, Number 45 WWW.HURRICANE.MIAMI.EDU
Friday, April 6,2001
Indian students showcase culture
ISA presents India Day as part of heritage week
By Danielle Scott
News tditof
Amidst the usual credit card promoters. bake sales and University organizations tabling in the University Center (UC) Breezeway last Wednesday, students could hear strains of bhangru and sample chevm, in celebration of India Day, as they walked by.
The Indian Students Association (ISA) sponsored India Day as part of Asian American Heritage Awareness Week and aside from tabling in the Breezeway, that night they showed American Desi in the International lounge and offered up more free Indian cuisine.
“Resources were strained because we just had the Cultural Benefit and Miamlnfusion so we decided to do something small for India DayT said Mitesh Jivan, India Day coordinator.
Besides thevro, chakri and pun were some of the other Indian delicacies offered to passers-by. |ivan said they decided on Daler Mehndi as one of the bhartgra artistes whose music they played because of its catchy beat.
“Its the kind of upbeat musk you dance to,” he said
A yoga instructor was supposed to be at the India Day table in the Breezeway but because of scheduling conflicts he was unable to make it, Jivan said.
Jivan and other ISA members constructed a notice board highlighting some of the more interesting aspects of Indian culture such as rajput warrior dolls, Islamk deities and famous Indian movie stars.
“I only know one of their names though. She is Ashwari Ari and she is a
former Muss World," Jivan said as he pointed to a pkture of an attractive Indian woman in a sari The movie, American Desi was about Indian culture in the United States.
“It’s in English,” Jivan said as he handed out flyers promoting the event to interested passers-by.
American Desi played to a full and lively audience who punctuated their viewing with frequent outbursts of laughter.
“It was an Americanized version of Hindi movies,” sophomore Vidya Rajpara said after watching the film.
* ft was good to see a different point of view. It was a great mix of Indian and American culture,” she said.
“I thought it was great,” junior Aaditya Vbra said.“But I’m the president |of ISA) so I’m biased!”
Jivaris roomate and fellow ISA member, Varun Kernf, was the chef for the night. Curry channa was on the menu, he said.
“Basically whoever has the time helps out with the events,” Jivan said. “I’m actually the ISA webmaster.”
Asia Day, which starts at 10 a.m. on the UC Patio today, is ISAis big event for the week, Jivan said.
The theme is “Dynamic TWist,” reenforcing the idea that the younger generation is open to new ideas while maintaining their culture and tradition, organizers said.
ISA, the Asian American Students Association, the Filipino Students Association, the Japan Club and the Malaysian Students Association are all setting up booths for the event Asia Day is also part of International Week, which begins today. Each day will represent a different region.
For more information on the Indian Students Association and upcoming events, visit Jivan’s creation at www.miami.edu/studorgs/isa.
For more information on International Week see the table.
The “Great Hall”
°f the university
Entire project financed by private donors
By Michael Corbo
Assistant Sports Editor
It’s been six years in the making, but on Wednesday the University of Miami finally broke ground on the Ryder Center, which when erected will be the largest building to ever grace the University and will play host to sporting,educational, cultural and community events.
“In the 74-year life of the history |of the University] we have had many great achievements,” University of Miami President
Edward T. Foote U said. “But wc have not had a great hall (to celebrate | and we are going to in the very near future.”
The total cost for this “great hall” is $48 million, with $31 million of that being the actual building cost. Since the University is a private institution, no state or local tax funds are involved in the construction.
Tire architects of the Ryder Center are Spillis Candela/DMJM of Coral Gables and F.llerbe Beckett, Inc. of Kansas City, while the contractor is Turner Construction Company.
On March 6, 1995, the Ryder System, Inc. gave the University a $9 million gift, thus beginning the Ryder Center campaign. Since then, the University has collected the money for the Ryder Center through
donations, with one of the most generous coming from Joanne and Edward Dauer, Roger and Gail Daiyer and their late mother, Reva Dauer, in 1998. Dr. Edward Dauer, who is a member of the University of Miami Board of Trustees, said he believes the Ryder Center will help “bring [the community of Coral Gables) together on the University of Miami campus.”
Currently, the largest building on campus is Gusman hall, whkh has a 600-seat capacity. The Ryder Center is designed for 7,000 permanent seats and a capacity to place more seats if required. The Center will also have 25 executive suites.
Located off Ponce de Leon Boulevard across from the University Metrorail Station, Miami
Athletk Director Paul Dee said he believes the Ryder Center will be a focal point of the UM campus.
“From the beginning, our purpose was to provide the University with another outstanding facility that would enhance the entire University communityT Dee said.
The Ryder Center’s size will allow for better concerts, bigger guest speakers and more academk seminars.
“The Ryder Center will allow us, for the first time in our 75 year history, to assemble all of our students under one roof on campus,” said Carlos M. de la Cruz, Sr., Chairman of the University of Miami Board of Trustees.
See RYDER • Page 3
“Its easier to get a pill than a bottle of beer”: Part II of a Hurricane drug series
By Patrice Grell and Brian Petit
Of the Staff
"It’s a dichi to say that it's mind expanding, but it really is; it just opens you to a whole new view of the world for a couple hours and it opens your eyes and lets you put down barriers you had up before. I But I there are definite negatives to it; you can get depressed from it and it's definitely not something that's healthy for your body."
Karen, 20, Arts and Sciences
This seemingly double-edged sword, a recreational drug that both stimulates and depresses the user, is the latest mind-altering substance to simultaneously terrify parents, mobilize politicians and intoxicate hordes of pleasure-seeking young people.
Savvy UM students know it as “ecstasy," or simply “X" or “E." Scientists call it MDMA, the short term for ecstasy’s chemical compound, 3,4- nrethylenedioiylmetham-phetamine.
With ecstasy’s expansion out of the underground rave scenes that nurtured its development into a bonafide intoxicant, the drug has established itself as a topical issue in mainstream culture, the halls of Congress and college ^n puses throughout (he world. Not thi least of which, The ffltrricane
has found, is our own sunny Coral Gables campus.
WHAT IS ECSTASY?
MDMA was patented in 1914 by the German Merck Pharmaceutical Company. But its current wave of pop ularity can be traced back to its introduction to America in the 1970s by chemist Sasha Shulgin for use as a psychiatric therapy tool.
By the mid-1980s ecstasy was no longer legal and had been classified by the government as a Schedule I stimulant, meaning that it is cons id ered to have a high potential for abuse and no medicinal value. Ecstasy is taken in pill form and although the length of the high can vary, it typically lasts three to five hours.
RECENT GROWTH IN ECSTASY POPULARITY
The wave of popularity of the drug in mainstream American culture now seems to be cresting. For example, the number of seized ecstasy pills sent to U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency laboratories rose from 1% in 1993 to 143,600 in 1998
Scott, a 24-year-old School of Communications student, gave us some perspective on the scene in Miami, and more specifically, at UM.
“Drugs are a big part of Miami culture and they always were and they always wilM>e, ’cause this is a huge port for drugs,” Scott said (per their
request, all student names have been changed). “They’re a huge part of the economy, the culture. A lot of people sell X here There are kids at UM who are moving thousands of pills a week. Like five thousand pills a week, making a lot of money.”
"[At one timej I knew more people here who did ecstasy than smoked pot,” said Sandra, a 21-year-old Communication student.
On his arrival on campus, Bill,a 22-year-old Communication student, said that he found ecstasy use to be especially popular in the dorms.
“On campus right now, it’s easier to get a pill than a bottle of beer,” Bill said. “It’s so easy to get, after like two weeks in the dorms you meet people who can help you score. When I got here after a few weeks, this guy on my floor had it and he started selling it to me.”
WHY PEOPLE USE ECSTASY
The popularity of ecstasy seems to stem both from the positive feelings that users say they experience, especially during the first time, and the common perception that it brings about few negative side effects.
“There’s no high like your first time,”said Karen.
“My first experience was great, I loved it, I feh no bad effects at all,” Marvin said, ^20-year-old School of Musk student .
“I remember I was engaged in a conversation with a friend when it hit me, and I didn’t realize, I was so enwrapped m the conversation that I didn’t even feel it. Another friend came up to me and she said,‘Stand up and walk around,’ and I did and it was crazy,”he said..
“I had so much energy, I was climbing trees and jumping on cars and stuff, just doing silly things. It was like being a kid again”
“All of a sudden you just get tingles up and down your body. Like this wave of feeling (that) nothing is wrong in the world, [that] nothing can go wrong,” said Lola, a 20-year-old Arts and Sciences student, describing her reaction to ecstasy.
Many users of ecstasy point to empathetic feelings and loss of inhibitions as other positive aspects of the high.
“I’ve had so many positive experiences. Whether 1 was with a woman or a man, you just feel like you can get so dose to someone. It does release your inhibitions,”Scott said.
GOVERNMENT FOCUSES ON ECSTASY USE AND DISTRIBUTION
The positive reputation of ecstasy among users and potential users has been strongly bolstered by such experiences and may partially account for why use of the drug has significantly risen in the past few years. ’
As a result, ecstasy and its proponents have found themselves to be a brightly glowing spot on the governments radar screen. One of the politicians most concerned with ecstasy use and distribution is one of Florida’s own senators, Democrat Bob Graham.
Graham sponsored the Ecstasy Anti-Proliferation Act, which was passed by Congress last fall as a part of the Children’s Health Act of 2000. The bill increases penalties for ecstasy trafficking and allocates money for anti-ecstasy education efforts.
In January of this year, three rave promoters were indicted in New Orleans under a federal “crack house" law, whkh was designed to penalize those that run establishments promoting drug use, manufacture, distribution or storage.
Graham’s impetus in leading the federal charge against ecstasy seems to come both from ecstasy’s popularity in Florida and research indicating its harmful effects on the brain, according to his spokesperson, Caren Benjamin.
“The myth is that ecstasy has no real physical effect. By definition, drugs change something in the body’s function or structure in some significant way. People have died as a result of taking ecstasy,” Graham said in a statement released to The Hurricane.
SCIENTISTS DEBATE ECSTASY AS A NEUROTOXIN
While statistics on ecstasy-caused deaths are hard to come by, few people deny that they have occurred. Such deaths are usually the result of either overheating or overdoses of other drugs contained in the pill-very little of what is sold as ecstasy is actually pure MDMA. But recent research has convinced some that ecstasy also damages the brain.
Dr. George Ricaurte, a Johns Hopkins University researcher study ing ecstasy, receives funding from the National Institute (Hi Drug Abuse, a federal government agency. Much of his research has focused on com par ing positron emission tomography (PET) scans of ecstasy users’ brains against the brains of nonusers.
The scans look for serotonin neuron damage. Serotonin is a neuro-transmitter responsible for mood regulation, body temperature regulation and other cognitive functions.
According to Rkaurte, up to two weeks after taking ecstasy, users experience a loss of serotonin in the brain due to damage to the neurons. In research done on monkeys, Rkaurte has documented such dam age existing for up to seven years.
However, some ecstasy users and
See DRUGS • Page 2 »

Complete Ryder Center coverage
SPORTS page 3
Dante Fascell subject of new compilation
ACCENT page 5
Volume 78, Number 45 WWW.HURRICANE.MIAMI.EDU
Friday, April 6,2001
Indian students showcase culture
ISA presents India Day as part of heritage week
By Danielle Scott
News tditof
Amidst the usual credit card promoters. bake sales and University organizations tabling in the University Center (UC) Breezeway last Wednesday, students could hear strains of bhangru and sample chevm, in celebration of India Day, as they walked by.
The Indian Students Association (ISA) sponsored India Day as part of Asian American Heritage Awareness Week and aside from tabling in the Breezeway, that night they showed American Desi in the International lounge and offered up more free Indian cuisine.
“Resources were strained because we just had the Cultural Benefit and Miamlnfusion so we decided to do something small for India DayT said Mitesh Jivan, India Day coordinator.
Besides thevro, chakri and pun were some of the other Indian delicacies offered to passers-by. |ivan said they decided on Daler Mehndi as one of the bhartgra artistes whose music they played because of its catchy beat.
“Its the kind of upbeat musk you dance to,” he said
A yoga instructor was supposed to be at the India Day table in the Breezeway but because of scheduling conflicts he was unable to make it, Jivan said.
Jivan and other ISA members constructed a notice board highlighting some of the more interesting aspects of Indian culture such as rajput warrior dolls, Islamk deities and famous Indian movie stars.
“I only know one of their names though. She is Ashwari Ari and she is a
former Muss World," Jivan said as he pointed to a pkture of an attractive Indian woman in a sari The movie, American Desi was about Indian culture in the United States.
“It’s in English,” Jivan said as he handed out flyers promoting the event to interested passers-by.
American Desi played to a full and lively audience who punctuated their viewing with frequent outbursts of laughter.
“It was an Americanized version of Hindi movies,” sophomore Vidya Rajpara said after watching the film.
* ft was good to see a different point of view. It was a great mix of Indian and American culture,” she said.
“I thought it was great,” junior Aaditya Vbra said.“But I’m the president |of ISA) so I’m biased!”
Jivaris roomate and fellow ISA member, Varun Kernf, was the chef for the night. Curry channa was on the menu, he said.
“Basically whoever has the time helps out with the events,” Jivan said. “I’m actually the ISA webmaster.”
Asia Day, which starts at 10 a.m. on the UC Patio today, is ISAis big event for the week, Jivan said.
The theme is “Dynamic TWist,” reenforcing the idea that the younger generation is open to new ideas while maintaining their culture and tradition, organizers said.
ISA, the Asian American Students Association, the Filipino Students Association, the Japan Club and the Malaysian Students Association are all setting up booths for the event Asia Day is also part of International Week, which begins today. Each day will represent a different region.
For more information on the Indian Students Association and upcoming events, visit Jivan’s creation at www.miami.edu/studorgs/isa.
For more information on International Week see the table.
The “Great Hall”
°f the university
Entire project financed by private donors
By Michael Corbo
Assistant Sports Editor
It’s been six years in the making, but on Wednesday the University of Miami finally broke ground on the Ryder Center, which when erected will be the largest building to ever grace the University and will play host to sporting,educational, cultural and community events.
“In the 74-year life of the history |of the University] we have had many great achievements,” University of Miami President
Edward T. Foote U said. “But wc have not had a great hall (to celebrate | and we are going to in the very near future.”
The total cost for this “great hall” is $48 million, with $31 million of that being the actual building cost. Since the University is a private institution, no state or local tax funds are involved in the construction.
Tire architects of the Ryder Center are Spillis Candela/DMJM of Coral Gables and F.llerbe Beckett, Inc. of Kansas City, while the contractor is Turner Construction Company.
On March 6, 1995, the Ryder System, Inc. gave the University a $9 million gift, thus beginning the Ryder Center campaign. Since then, the University has collected the money for the Ryder Center through
donations, with one of the most generous coming from Joanne and Edward Dauer, Roger and Gail Daiyer and their late mother, Reva Dauer, in 1998. Dr. Edward Dauer, who is a member of the University of Miami Board of Trustees, said he believes the Ryder Center will help “bring [the community of Coral Gables) together on the University of Miami campus.”
Currently, the largest building on campus is Gusman hall, whkh has a 600-seat capacity. The Ryder Center is designed for 7,000 permanent seats and a capacity to place more seats if required. The Center will also have 25 executive suites.
Located off Ponce de Leon Boulevard across from the University Metrorail Station, Miami
Athletk Director Paul Dee said he believes the Ryder Center will be a focal point of the UM campus.
“From the beginning, our purpose was to provide the University with another outstanding facility that would enhance the entire University communityT Dee said.
The Ryder Center’s size will allow for better concerts, bigger guest speakers and more academk seminars.
“The Ryder Center will allow us, for the first time in our 75 year history, to assemble all of our students under one roof on campus,” said Carlos M. de la Cruz, Sr., Chairman of the University of Miami Board of Trustees.
See RYDER • Page 3
“Its easier to get a pill than a bottle of beer”: Part II of a Hurricane drug series
By Patrice Grell and Brian Petit
Of the Staff
"It’s a dichi to say that it's mind expanding, but it really is; it just opens you to a whole new view of the world for a couple hours and it opens your eyes and lets you put down barriers you had up before. I But I there are definite negatives to it; you can get depressed from it and it's definitely not something that's healthy for your body."
Karen, 20, Arts and Sciences
This seemingly double-edged sword, a recreational drug that both stimulates and depresses the user, is the latest mind-altering substance to simultaneously terrify parents, mobilize politicians and intoxicate hordes of pleasure-seeking young people.
Savvy UM students know it as “ecstasy," or simply “X" or “E." Scientists call it MDMA, the short term for ecstasy’s chemical compound, 3,4- nrethylenedioiylmetham-phetamine.
With ecstasy’s expansion out of the underground rave scenes that nurtured its development into a bonafide intoxicant, the drug has established itself as a topical issue in mainstream culture, the halls of Congress and college ^n puses throughout (he world. Not thi least of which, The ffltrricane
has found, is our own sunny Coral Gables campus.
WHAT IS ECSTASY?
MDMA was patented in 1914 by the German Merck Pharmaceutical Company. But its current wave of pop ularity can be traced back to its introduction to America in the 1970s by chemist Sasha Shulgin for use as a psychiatric therapy tool.
By the mid-1980s ecstasy was no longer legal and had been classified by the government as a Schedule I stimulant, meaning that it is cons id ered to have a high potential for abuse and no medicinal value. Ecstasy is taken in pill form and although the length of the high can vary, it typically lasts three to five hours.
RECENT GROWTH IN ECSTASY POPULARITY
The wave of popularity of the drug in mainstream American culture now seems to be cresting. For example, the number of seized ecstasy pills sent to U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency laboratories rose from 1% in 1993 to 143,600 in 1998
Scott, a 24-year-old School of Communications student, gave us some perspective on the scene in Miami, and more specifically, at UM.
“Drugs are a big part of Miami culture and they always were and they always wilM>e, ’cause this is a huge port for drugs,” Scott said (per their
request, all student names have been changed). “They’re a huge part of the economy, the culture. A lot of people sell X here There are kids at UM who are moving thousands of pills a week. Like five thousand pills a week, making a lot of money.”
"[At one timej I knew more people here who did ecstasy than smoked pot,” said Sandra, a 21-year-old Communication student.
On his arrival on campus, Bill,a 22-year-old Communication student, said that he found ecstasy use to be especially popular in the dorms.
“On campus right now, it’s easier to get a pill than a bottle of beer,” Bill said. “It’s so easy to get, after like two weeks in the dorms you meet people who can help you score. When I got here after a few weeks, this guy on my floor had it and he started selling it to me.”
WHY PEOPLE USE ECSTASY
The popularity of ecstasy seems to stem both from the positive feelings that users say they experience, especially during the first time, and the common perception that it brings about few negative side effects.
“There’s no high like your first time,”said Karen.
“My first experience was great, I loved it, I feh no bad effects at all,” Marvin said, ^20-year-old School of Musk student .
“I remember I was engaged in a conversation with a friend when it hit me, and I didn’t realize, I was so enwrapped m the conversation that I didn’t even feel it. Another friend came up to me and she said,‘Stand up and walk around,’ and I did and it was crazy,”he said..
“I had so much energy, I was climbing trees and jumping on cars and stuff, just doing silly things. It was like being a kid again”
“All of a sudden you just get tingles up and down your body. Like this wave of feeling (that) nothing is wrong in the world, [that] nothing can go wrong,” said Lola, a 20-year-old Arts and Sciences student, describing her reaction to ecstasy.
Many users of ecstasy point to empathetic feelings and loss of inhibitions as other positive aspects of the high.
“I’ve had so many positive experiences. Whether 1 was with a woman or a man, you just feel like you can get so dose to someone. It does release your inhibitions,”Scott said.
GOVERNMENT FOCUSES ON ECSTASY USE AND DISTRIBUTION
The positive reputation of ecstasy among users and potential users has been strongly bolstered by such experiences and may partially account for why use of the drug has significantly risen in the past few years. ’
As a result, ecstasy and its proponents have found themselves to be a brightly glowing spot on the governments radar screen. One of the politicians most concerned with ecstasy use and distribution is one of Florida’s own senators, Democrat Bob Graham.
Graham sponsored the Ecstasy Anti-Proliferation Act, which was passed by Congress last fall as a part of the Children’s Health Act of 2000. The bill increases penalties for ecstasy trafficking and allocates money for anti-ecstasy education efforts.
In January of this year, three rave promoters were indicted in New Orleans under a federal “crack house" law, whkh was designed to penalize those that run establishments promoting drug use, manufacture, distribution or storage.
Graham’s impetus in leading the federal charge against ecstasy seems to come both from ecstasy’s popularity in Florida and research indicating its harmful effects on the brain, according to his spokesperson, Caren Benjamin.
“The myth is that ecstasy has no real physical effect. By definition, drugs change something in the body’s function or structure in some significant way. People have died as a result of taking ecstasy,” Graham said in a statement released to The Hurricane.
SCIENTISTS DEBATE ECSTASY AS A NEUROTOXIN
While statistics on ecstasy-caused deaths are hard to come by, few people deny that they have occurred. Such deaths are usually the result of either overheating or overdoses of other drugs contained in the pill-very little of what is sold as ecstasy is actually pure MDMA. But recent research has convinced some that ecstasy also damages the brain.
Dr. George Ricaurte, a Johns Hopkins University researcher study ing ecstasy, receives funding from the National Institute (Hi Drug Abuse, a federal government agency. Much of his research has focused on com par ing positron emission tomography (PET) scans of ecstasy users’ brains against the brains of nonusers.
The scans look for serotonin neuron damage. Serotonin is a neuro-transmitter responsible for mood regulation, body temperature regulation and other cognitive functions.
According to Rkaurte, up to two weeks after taking ecstasy, users experience a loss of serotonin in the brain due to damage to the neurons. In research done on monkeys, Rkaurte has documented such dam age existing for up to seven years.
However, some ecstasy users and
See DRUGS • Page 2 »